Petty, Administratrix, v. Tennessee-Missouri Bridge Commission

Decided April 20, 1959. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 233 · 359 U.S. 275 (1959) · Cited 390 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• West Virginia Ex Rel. Dyer v. Sims · 341 U.S. 22 (1951)
• Keifer & Keifer v. Reconstruction Finance Corp. · 306 U.S. 381 (1939)
• California v. Taylor · 353 U.S. 553 (1957)
• United States v. California · 297 U.S. 175 (1936)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury · 323 U.S. 459 (1945)
• Ex Parte State of New York, No. 1 · 256 U.S. 490 (1921)
• Board of Comm'rs of Jackson Cty. v. United States · 308 U.S. 343 (1939)
• Helvering v. Stuart · 317 U.S. 154 (1942)
• Great Northern Life Insurance Co. v. Read · 322 U.S. 47 (1944)
• Commissioner v. Stern · 357 U.S. 39 (1958)
• The Tungus v. Skovgaard · 358 U.S. 588 (1959)
• United New York & New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Ass'n v. Halecki · 358 U.S. 613 (1959)
• O'Donnell v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. · 318 U.S. 36 (1943)
• Missouri v. Fiske · 290 U.S. 18 (1933)
• Hinderlider v. La Plata River & Cherry Creek Ditch Co. · 304 U.S. 92 (1938)
• Sims v. United States · 359 U.S. 108 (1959)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Parden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama State Docks Department · 377 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Welch v. Texas Department of Highways & Public Transportation · 483 U.S. 468 (1987)
• Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney · 495 U.S. 299 (1990)
• Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation · 513 U.S. 30 (1994)
• Employees of Department of Public Health v. Department of Public Health · 411 U.S. 279 (1973)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt · 587 U.S. 230 (2019)
• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board · 527 U.S. 666 (1999)
• Cuyler v. Adams · 449 U.S. 433 (1981)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Lapides v. Board of Regents of Univ. System of Ga. · 535 U.S. 613 (2002)
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections v. Schacht · 524 U.S. 381 (1998)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency · 440 U.S. 391 (1979)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Hilton v. South Carolina Public Railways Commission · 502 U.S. 197 (1991)
• Franchise Tax Board v. United States Postal Service · 467 U.S. 512 (1984)
• Texas v. New Mexico · 482 U.S. 124 (1987)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).